The Fresh Classroom by @PaulKelba

In his book Walden, Henry Thoreau states: "our inventions wont be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but an improved means to an unimproved end." Twitter could be a platform that typifies this. I am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to certain social media in the classroom. Although Facebook is an easy target to pick apart, new studies are backing terms such as the  'comparison trap'  within the sophisticated profiles and interfaces that lends to low self esteem within students and adults.   Among others, scholar Jose Millan from Spain provokes with "Teachers tend to suffer from the 'shiny penny syndrome', that is their attention (and efforts) gets caught by the latest technology or device".  How does twitter break the mould? The simple nature of twitter has lead to a constant surge of teachers utilizing tweets in educational fields. That is its key as 'Principal Twitter' Ian Sheninge...

On my leave of absence from my public teaching position in Calgary, Canada I happily worked as a founding teacher at a pilot international/public hybrid school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2009/10. My experience was filled with the unexpected learning benefits one would expect teaching overseas. A key learning (or confirmation) was the consequences of an incredible focus on grades and paper qualifications. I could not agree more with a recent the article: The Problem With Singapore's Education System  by Belmont Lay. It is a reflection on past Asian education trends on rote learning and the tendency for a 'risk averse education'. Lay is a tad simplified to get the point across; nevertheless, points to the major problem with Singapore & booming Asian countries is " students not be as driven as they should be " stating: "Anybody who has gone through 15 to 20 years of studies in Singapore will tell you the same thing. There is an overbearing f...

“Administrators can challenge the restrictive culture of teacher isolation and individualism, but inadvertently eradicate all semblances of creativity and individuality with it.” -Hargreaves- In 1994, Andy Hargreaves produced a proper 'How to' manual on teacher collaboration titled Changing Teachers, Changing Times: Teachers' Work and Culture in the Postmodern Age . Detailing obvious and not so apparent requirements for teachers to truly work together, Hargreaves refers to teacher collaboration as either 'a cup of comfort or poisoned chalice'. Nearly twenty years after publication, this seminal work has spawned countless initiatives full of well intentions. My present school board deserves to be commended with implementing models as such, from peer coaching to 'job embedded professional development' teacher leaders, attempting to commit to a task-NOT-a commitment to a time. We have not, as a system,  achieved many goals in regards to authentic coll...